Hi, if I recall correctly, some members mentioned that silicon Macs have some issues with external storage. For example, speed being capped, automatically disconnected when the Mac went to sleep, unstable connections, etc. On some product reviews of docks, users blamed that it is problem with Apple's implementation of silicon Macs. Have these issues been solved? What other issues do silocn Macs have with external storage?
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What issues do Silicon Macs have with external storage?
- Thread starter hajime
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I haven't heard about any solutions from Apple.
There's anecdotal evidence of issues. What kind of external storage is it that you're asking about?
There's anecdotal evidence of issues. What kind of external storage is it that you're asking about?
I have had the disconnect with a few older most dual USB drive, but single USB 3 and above, TB and USBC have been rock solid
Same here. My primary machine is the M1 Max Studio and I've got 6 external SSDs (4x2TB and 2x4TB) and one 8TB Seagate HDD attached. All have been functioning without any issues.
For example, external hard drive, external SSD drives, external SSD enclosures, etc. USB and Thunderbolt 4 versions.
I have read something similar. I think one user said that there is no issue above certain USB version but below that, there are issues.
No issues with my M1 MBA. The only "issue" is that when using a hub, the speed is capped for certain SSDs in my experience. It's actually quite ironic because I do have external storage issues with my 5,1 Mac Pro, but nothing on the MacBook.
I had problems with my 16/512 m1 Mini reading external hard drives. Searching for some item and looking at files, soon the Finder would bloat up and quit working.
I transferred my stuff from hard drives to SSDs and haven't had any further trouble. This was in Big Sur and now I'm in Monterey and maybe it's fixed but I haven't had to access any hard drives lately to test it.
I transferred my stuff from hard drives to SSDs and haven't had any further trouble. This was in Big Sur and now I'm in Monterey and maybe it's fixed but I haven't had to access any hard drives lately to test it.
I have a USB-A SATA 3 Crucial SSD and a Samsung T-3 500 GB drive attached to my Studio and have had no problems. I uses these two disks as a NAS for the rest of the house. There may be a pause when the Studio wakes up from sleep of a few seconds but it wakes from sleep and I can see them. My network is 100 MBPS in the living room so bus speed isn't my main limitation on transfer speeds. It does everything I want it to. I would like it to be faster sometimes but not enough to run CAT6 from the basement to the living room.
fwiw, I've had no problems with my Mac Studio and external storage, works great.
I have a 5TB LaCie external HDD and a 2TB Samsung SSD in an enclosure from Best Buy (their Insignia brand), and both drives work without any issues whatsoever on my MBP. Both are using USB-C so I just connect them directly to the laptop instead of through a hub or dock.
Just to also chime in, I've got a Samsung T7 Shield that's connected essentially 24/7 and I've had no issues with disconnections at all (M1 Pro 14" MBP).
That's rather a macOS issue than an Apple Silicon one. This happens on Intel Macs as well.
Drives using the USB protocol might disconnect during sleep. I have two Thunderbolt M2 SSDs in OWS enclosures hooked each to their own port on my Studio. I went with a lower price and performance, which means they top at about 1400-1500MB/sec. It is really hard to tell the performance difference from the superfast internal disk in normal use unless you are copying large files. Those drives have worked reliably for more than 8 months.
Using multiple, high-performance Thunderbolt SSDs requires some consideration due to lane availability, hubs, etc.
Howard Oakley has a number of articles diving into this on his website: The Eclectic Light Company.
Using multiple, high-performance Thunderbolt SSDs requires some consideration due to lane availability, hubs, etc.
Howard Oakley has a number of articles diving into this on his website: The Eclectic Light Company.
I have an external drive I use for all my Time Machine backups. It's not plugged in 100% of the time, but I have used it both while my computer is awake and asleep and haven't had any reliability issues.
I have a TM disk as well hooked directly to my Studio and it has not had any problems. I do have a problem with a USB-C to 4xUSB-A hub plugged into one of the front USB-C ports. When it sleeps, the power goes off. It's not a problem with the rear ports though. I also use the port hubs on my monitors and the thing to remember is to set the monitor to provide power to the USB ports, even when the monitor sleeps, or it will just abruptly drop the power when it sleeps. That's fine for some peripherals but not for storage devices.
I have a 14 TB Seagate One Touch Hub connected to my Studio. This drive is available as large as 20 TB I have had no problems at all. It loads in exFat natively so there is no need to format it. The only issue I had with it was the supplied cable, it is a USB "A" to Micro "B" necessitating an "A" to "C" adapter. But I have ordered a shorter "C" to 3.1 Micro "B" to replace it.
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The hub on the front port doesn't seem to lose power anymore. I have been using it for a week with an external drive and it has been fine. It was more of an issue with my MagSafe charger not charging when the Studio is asleep but the external SSD seems to stay up and running.
I haven't see or heard of any issues, however, I think some drives lack compatible firmware update software that runs on Apple silicon. Other than that it's been pretty good. I used to get random disconnects on my 15" Intel, but I don't know if that was hardware or software related.